That he was so good at Castilla y León makes him less suspicious than the rest of the Portuguese (August) torpedos. Anyway, the terrain in CyL is the type you would say suits Joni a couple of years ago and where he had shown to be most promising. I'm happy he (and a couple of other Portuguese guys) could pull this, it's one less eyebrow I have frown at their Volta performances (controls being rigged for national riders, not daring going full retard outside the country)...

''The battle between Démare and Bouhanni for being France's best sprinter is decided: it's Coquard.'' - BBB

Troféu Joaquim Agostinho's last stage is tomorrow. It's the DL or TdS for the Volta a Portugal and as always W52 (Porto) are nowhere near the level of dominance they usually present at the Volta. Gustavo Veloso in particular is more than one minute behind people he'll beat by minutes in the real deal... Brace yourselves for another retard fest...

Sure, César was down on Montejunto which he won't be next month, but he was 2nd in the chrono behind a teammate (Rafa Reis) and W52 won today's stage with Raúl Alarcón too. 2/3 stages ain't bad for a team whose leader is laying low ready to lay waste to the bunch next month.

Yeah, sure but Rafael Reis winning the chrono is no big surprise specially in Portugal where the competition is so bad and even Alarcón winning today not a shock. The big thing is the disparity between the team in the mountains at Volta or in stage races like this. Winning stages that fit your riders is one thing, having 6 out of 10 guys in a group on a really hard mountain stage is another.

Nocentini in yellow is also a joke but I'll wait until he follows the more retarded guys to pass my final judgement. I wasn't implying W52 were the only ones that doped in no way.

PhiLiz wrote:If you think anything Fraudoome does is retarded please watch the PIG, Doposo, sprinting at almost 40 km/h (52 seconds on the last 500m) in a fairly hard climb.

The biggest difference between the Tour and the Volta is the prohibitive cost of subtlety.

I know our Volta is really a farse but at least just do this huge differences in the itt's... I'm not checking this buy don't think he has ever finished outside top 10 I'm any stage. I mean, it's just ludicrous such level of dominance. Just retire or have a carrier ending crash already.

I know it sounds bad but we've been having 10 years of idiots like Nuno Ribeiro (w52 DD of course) or washed up mid 30's spanish donks turning into Dawgs.

This is so frustrating. Even more so than Sky at the Tour. Here's a guy who's giving it all, going 80km's out in the queen stage having his chances sabotaged by the collective might of w52. Despite the chase, they manage to put 3 guys in the freaking top 5.

And what about Ricardo Mestre, who's been an absolute non-factor everywhere he's been since winning the Volta, returns to Tavira last year only to flop and now has the climbing legs of his life? He'd be in contention if he wasn't doing domestique work.

Absolute vomit of a race despite the good racing by one or two teams.

Edit: oh well, since it's hard to believe Joni is on pan y água I got to hand it to César, because he's been the superior rider. Just think it'd be much closer without an über-strong postal train.

''The battle between Démare and Bouhanni for being France's best sprinter is decided: it's Coquard.'' - BBB

Looking at the results, having only watched Senhora live, this still seems x5 the race than the French kermesse in July.... THAT was an absolute vomit of a race. Not necessarily because of Sky, but because of Quintana and Contador. At least Joni tries and is capable.

"This is the Tour that will determine If I can drink espresso at the Garda lake the rest of my life"

I have some basic Italian understanding but not fluent to understand the nuances, but seems like he didn't believe Portuguese riders were strong after all his experience but now he is coming round to believing them & #nocomment.

I guess that's enough to go in this thread

blackcat wrote:you must respect the Cobra, a man who can give himself his own nickname. he trancends hubris.